Poets : Armand, Ira Cohen, Louis Lehmann, Hans Verhagen, Simon Vinkenoog
Publisher : Counter Culture Chronicles
Year : 2021
Box set with a C60 cassette and 6 inserts
130 x 88 x 32 cm
Recordings by Ruigoord, edited by Erik Sluiter
Design : André Koolmees
Limited edition of 55
€ 10.00
Postage & packing not included

The village of Ruigoord was evacuated in the 1960s by the municipality of Amsterdam, which intended to expand its harbour and industrial territory westward. However, in 1972 the abandoned village was squatted by a group of artists headed by former Provo Hans Plomp and Gerben Hellinga. While the industrial area steadily encroached upon the squatted village, the artist’s colony developed into a cultural freetown which, surprisingly, has managed to survive until this day. Among the many events that have been organised at Ruigoord, the annual poetry and music festival Fiery Tongues has become the best-known. The name of the festival, which is co-organised by Hans Plomp and Yvonne van Doorn-Mousset, refers to the descent of the Holy Spirit at Whitsun, during which the two-day festival takes place. Established and upcoming poets, artists, performers and musicians have been on the festival’s bill and each year one of Ruigoord’s champions is awarded the valued Ruigoord trophy.

The Counter Culture Chronicles Ruigoord Fiery Tongues box set contains a cassette with readings by five of those awardees: Armand, Ira Cohen, Louis Lehmann, Hans Verhagen and Simon Vinkenoog, all of whom have sadly passed away since. Furthermore the box set contains colourful laser printed photographs of each of the awardees, a xeroxed colophon and a laser printed motto for Ruigoord by Simon Vinkenoog.